all right, baby. (kevin) ahh. all right, barbara. good deal. i really believe that you will put in the time. yes, i really will. thank you. oh, you're just sucking up now, lance. thank you very much. all right, thanks, guys. thanks for-- thanks for all-- congratulations, guys. all your help and everything. good luck. congratulations. barbara, that was really clever. thank you. you're getting--you're getting the same salary they are. hey, i deserve it. we're so happy we're working with barbara. she said she's gonna put the time in. this partnership with barbara, it's gonna take us to a whole 'nother level we've never been able to reach before.

tonight on "20/20" -- famous parents. famous problems. lights, camera, chaos. >> i'm sorry, man. >> growing up in the harsh glare of celebrity and in the cross hairs of the tabloid cameras. >> stop taking pictures! >> but these hollywood moms are fighting back this week. >> we're moms here, who are just trying to protect our children. >> we have a bounty on their heads every day. >> turning the tables and taking aim at the paparazzi who photograph their kids. >> let's say a shot of halle berry and her kid are going to give you 100 grand? >> i'll take the shot. i'll take two shots. >> fighting back. and exclusive new details in the fight over usher's little boy, jury hours after he nearly

drowned. >> how did this happen? why was my son under water for nearly three minutes? >> why is this former "lost boy" fighting to not lose his little boy? >> can you hear his voice? >> i've forgotten what his voice sounds like. >> custody battle royale. plus, these celeb kids just want to be heard. revealing intimate details and airing their parents dirty laundry on twitter. kids tweet the darndest things. they're born in the spotlight, for better or worse. here's david muir. >> good evening. elizabeth is off tonight. and we're going to begin here with the explosive testimony from some famous parents this week. out to protect their babies, their young children from the glare of the paparazzi. their parents are famous, but tonight, they're arguing their children are not. they didn't choose this. this evening here, the pleas from parents including actresses halle berry and jennifer garner. but will it be enough?

here's nick watt. >> how was your dinner? >> reporter: ben affleck has tried fighting back. >> [ bleep ]. >> i'm sorry, man. >> reporter: can you blame him? every day, a dozen photographers follow affleck, his wife jennifer garner and their three little kids. their daughters have begged for it to stop. >> stop taking pictures of us and our dad. now! >> get out! >> yeah! >> reporter: and now their mom is taking the fight against the tot-chasing paparazzi to the california state assembly. >> they have a bounty on their heads every day. my 17-month-old baby is terrified and cries. my 4-year-old says, "why do these men never smile? why do they never go away? why are they always with us?" >> reporter: this week, garner and another leading lady -- >> i got introduced as halle berry, but i'm here as a mom. >> reporter: -- are fighting for a bill that could land a paparazzo in jail if he, quote,

seriously alarms, annoys, torments or terrorizes a celebrity's kid in the process of snapping their picture. berry has, on occasion, totally lost her cool. >> this is how you make a [ bleep ] living is to harass children because my child is in there. you are. she's at school. can you leave children alone you [ bleep ] idiots. we aren't just whiney celebrities that many times people think we are. they have the right to the take the photographs, as much as i hate it, as much as i hate it that my children are objectified that way. this bill still allows them to do that. what we're asking them to do is to take these pictures with some dignity. >> i love my kids. they're beautiful and sweet and innocent. and i don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, law-breaking photographers, who camp out everywhere we are, every day, to continue traumatizing my kids. >> reporter: these days celebrity kids are everywhere, on our tvs, in our magazines. which ones look like their parents? who's the cutest? wow, aren't they stylish?

is that one a pawn in a messy break up? >> stop taking pictures. >> stop the pictures, guys. >> reporter: this is the high price celebrity kids are paying for inherited fame, for being born into a hollywood family business. ben evansted owns the national photo group, a celebrity photo agency in los angeles. 6-year-olds going to school, do you never feel bad for them? >> feel bad? no. do i feel bad for taking a picture of someone that's newsworthy? no, i don't. as long as i'm within the bounds of the law. >> they're not famous. they're not celebrities. it doesn't warrant scrutiny. it's not appropriate. it's not healthy. >> unfortunately, that's not the way it works. the way it works is, if you're in the public eye, regardless of whether you chose to be there or not, you're going to have some attention from the media. and that's where these children find themselves. >> get back, guys. get back. >> reporter: and most of these kids, really, really hate it. that scared, little pink bundle is suri cruise.

she is prime paparazzi prey. >> guys, stop! >> reporter: this is totally illegal in, say, england or france, but it is totally legal here in the united states. it's a first amendment right. >> the intent of the law is to protect these women and actresses from being harassed when they have their children. so i'm always a little leery of any laws that i think ultimately could impact legitimate journalists from doing their job. >> when i walk up to school with my son and there are cameramen following me -- he has a relationship with the camera that's antagonistic. his class pictures for two years have been this. and i think it's a shame for him. >> guys, stop it. you got enough pictures. >> reporter: but if a 6-year-old is saying "please don't take my photograph," the paparazzi will not listen to that child, and will continue taking those. >> they'll take the photograph. >> reporter: they'll take the photograph? >> they'll take the photograph because it tells a story. >> reporter: we rolled with ricardo mendoza, an l.a.

paparazzo on the celeb beat seven days a week. >> there's kelly osbourne right there, right there. >> reporter: where? >> right there. hi, kelly! >> reporter: i felt a bit shy too get out the car. >> like you're not worthy of it, almost. >> reporter: no, it's more that just, i just feel weird getting in someone's face. he says he's one of the nicer guys lurking in the bushes. he never gets closer than five or six feet. he's friendly. and mendoza says he would not, for example, snap halle berry dropping her kid of at school. but just wait until you hear why. >> the financial gain that i'm not going to get out of that, it's not worth the hassle of hearing her yell at me. >> reporter: the pic, he says, is worth only 250 bucks. okay, but let's say the shot of halle berry and her kid was going to get you 100 grand? >> i'd take the shot in a heartbeat. i'll take two shots. hate me for all you like, i'm the photographer. it's the general public. the general public craves it. they want to see it.

>> reporter: we the public buy these magazines, watch these tv shows. is that the bottom line? mendoza has photographed his share of crotch shots and drunkenness and claims it is his duty to document the good as well as the bad. >> i have to show the foundation of family. that's my defense, and that's the only one that i need. >> reporter: julia roberts, that's her chasing down a paparazzo from the school gates, she does not agree. >> you can turn your video camera off because i'm going to talk to you about the fact that you're at a school where children go. turn it off. >> reporter: she is awesome. >> when we do public events, they are very welcome to come and work with us and take the picture in situations when we both agree to do something together. >> but them running errands during the day or bringing their kid to school, i just don't think that's right. >> reporter: kevin mazur, a celebrity photographer, the kind who gets invited inside, made a documentary about the paparazzi

available on netflix. it's called "sellebrity." >> they're $50, $250, as much as $250,000. >> i don't know that anything's going to change. every time i think we have reached our lowest we seem to dig lower even. >> stop it. i'm not kidding. >> reporter: and neither are these crusading moms. >> it's not about me. take my picture. i get it. >> they're just kids like your kids or anyone else's. and just like you want to protect your children, i want to protect mine. >> reporter: that's easier said than done. even if this new bill she's championing becomes law, it won't stop this, or this. the paparazzi won't stop. >> it's not me, it's going to be that little joe schmoe with the mobile camera. those little, those little smart phones now, everyone is a paparazzi now. good luck! >> reporter: strange as it may seem to some, snapping a picture of a celebrity kid on the street is enshrined in the first amendment.

>> you know, i kind of asked for this life and kind of knew this was part of it. there is a price to fame. are you willing to pay it? >> our thanks to nick watt tonight. we want to know what you think. tweet us your message about the paparazzi. use #abc2020. should those children be off-limits? we'll be right back. coming up, a baffling custody dispute. is he a real dad or just a celebrity sperm donor? >> this is the worst case of parental alienation i've ever seen. >> he's begging to pay child support. so, why can't he see his own son? imagine enough plastic to cover mt. rainier. what if we could keep that much plastic waste out of landfills each year. by using just one less trash bag each month... we can. and glad forceflex bags stretch until they're full. so you can take them out less often. it's a small change

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use setback. ♪ a cherished home video of a father and a son. but this famous hollywood actor is now starring in a real-lime d drama of his own. in a real life drama of his own. you may know him from his other roles, the ones on screen. date he came from a famous family. jackie gleason was his grandfather. but away from the glare, jason patric was working on something else, trying to have a baby with a woman he'd been dating on and off for years, danielle schreiber. >> i've been in a lot of relationships. i was always worried about having a child. i was with someone, someone that i trusted and i loved. and so i said, "well, we can try this route." but please, promise me that the ups and downs that come with it, you're not going to become the crazy person in that situation. i don't want it to affect who we are as a couple. >> reporter: so, you were a little concerned that if we

introduced a child into this -- >> the process more. >> reporter: danielle still wanted a baby and jason agreed to help her keep trying. she finally got pregnant through invitro. but danielle says there was never any agreement that he'd play the role of father. did you say to her at the time, look, i'll help you with this, but i don't want to be the dad. >> no. >> reporter: would you had agreed to it had you known that danielle didn't want you a father? >> never. the word parent means to beget, nourish or raise a child. that was my intense. >> reporter: and the baby is born. >> the baby's born. >> reporter: a little boy named gus. >> i can't describe it. anyone who has had a child -- i was afraid to touch him because he was so small and everything. >> reporter: that new baby seemed to draw the couple closer again. in jason's picture, they look like a family. you were at the house every day? >> absolutely, yeah. i played music, i scratched his back, i helped him articulate his fingers. speak shakespeare into his ear,

because i think he should know that one day. >> reporter: he showed us the home videos, their time spent together. but that would soon end and quickly. it was father's day, which happens to be your birthday. >> she gave me a big cake with gus on it. >> reporter: that was the last time you were all together? >> yes. >> reporter: because he says, soon after that birthday, after years of ups and downs they break up, but continue parenting together, it changed everything. >> one week later, i get an e-mail, speak to my attorney. i mean, i could have been knocked off my chair. it just blew me away. >> reporter: you're convinced she was punishing you? >> oh, without question. >> reporter: danielle was argue he was not a dad to her on sand the court ruled in her favor. >> my lawyer said, they're saying you're not the father. i said, what? you're not the father. >> reporter: their contention is because you went to that clinic, the law says -- >> the law says. >> reporter: you're a sperm donor. >> right. >> reporter: if you are not married and go to a clinic, under the law, you're considered

only a sperm donor, with no rights as a father. >> two most important words in a child, two most important visions, ideas are momma and dada. it means safety, support. food, love. >> reporter: danielle has also said that jason never intended to be a father. in fact, she says he insisted that it all be kept a secret. in the statement, she writes, i allowed jason to have contact with my son while we were dating and even then, he insisted i keep his donation a secret and uphold our original agreement. >> show me the document that you have or e-mail where i say the world secret. >> reporter: in fact, he points to this document instead, where at that invitro clinic, he signed his name next to the klein "intended parent." but has now learned that doesn't hold up in court. and apparently, neither do these images. those home videos. listen to the questions danielle asks her little boy. >> which one is dada, right

there? uh-huh. where's dada? that's right. >> reporter: and jason patric points to a christmas card write by danielle. >> in her handwriting, jason, i love you more than anything, what else can i say. then, for gus, dada, thank you for teaching me to pee in the toilet, watch airplanes, learn beatles songs. i love you dada, gus. >> reporter: you point right to that card and say, that card proves that even danielle looked at you as the father. >> the whole thing is so absurd, david. >> reporter: but we asked jason patric about one more thing. his name not on the birth certificate. so many people have pointed out the birth certificate, why your name wasn't put on there. >> if i can protect him from the bad aspects of my name that i can, i certainly will. this was my idea of trying, and it worked, for two years, there were no pictures of gus or me.

none. >> reporter: you thought by keeping your name off of the birth certificate that you were protecting gus from the media glare? >> absolutely. >> reporter: but tonight, that glare is on jason himself. fighting for shared custody of that little boy. just this week, testifying before california lawmakers, hoping they would change the law, that loophole, he says, that labels him simply a sperm donor and not a dad to gus. >> sperm donors, a word that was never, ever mentioned in my house. a word i can guarantee you gus doesn't even though how to pronounce. >> reporter: but law will makers put the debate on hold indefinitely. as we sit here, you know the number of weeks it's been. >> 26 on sunday. >> reporter: 26 weeks without seeing gus. no rights to visitation. >> reporter: wh what was the last thing you said to him? >> the last thing i said to him was, i picked him up, i put him in the car, we drove back, i drove himdanielles, i said, "i'm missing you, dada."

i said, "that's all right. i'm going to see you tomorrow, little man." and i've never seen him again. >> reporter: can you hear his voice? >> no. not anymore. and it breaks my heart. no. and he has a room in my house and i don't open the door. but he doesn't know me. you know, his little brow, wondering where his dad is, he doesn't know that. and he's not a possession. >> reporter: and do you let yourself go there? i mean, do you ever wonder if you'll see him again? >> i'm going to fight until i'm dead to see him. and i'm doing things like this so he knows i've done everything in my power to make sure he has a dada. >> reporter: what would you say to gus? >> i love you. this is not your fault. i promise you i'm going to do everything i can to see you. >> reporter: and to danielle, if she's watching? >> why? why? >> tonight, we want to know what you make of this custody case. what do you think about jason

patric's fight to have a role in that little boily's life? tweet us using #abc2020. we'll be right back. when we come back, she took usher to court, hours after their son nearly drowned. >> i was angry it happened on his watch. while accidents happen, never has my children been injured on my watch. >> but is she using her son's near death experience to gain an edge in court?

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famous parents, famous problems, continues with dan abrams. >> reporter: when a celebrity like usher fights for custody of his kids, even something as

poignant as a courtroom hug with his ex might be a piece of show biz. >> i don't think it was a sincere gesture. >> reporter: so you think he was just doing it for the cameras? >> i call it the casket rub. i think it was the dream team, you know, gave that as an advice. "hey, you have to look like a good sport." and it -- it's -- you save face, because you -- you look like you hurt this woman. so you give her a hug. >> reporter: these were the unvarnished words of tameka raymond, fashion stylist, mom, and maybe most famously, usher's ex-wife, speaking out exclusively to abc news this week. >> this is almost like the twilight zone. i have to pinch myself sometimes and say -- you really don't have your kids? like, it just doesn't even seem right. >> reporter: the usher custody case has torn back a curtain on the rarefied world of celebrity parenting. caught in the middle? 5-year-old usher v and 4-year-old naviyd, the offspring of a four-year relationship.

>> it was a friendship, you know? and i think that he appreciated having someone that would be completely, brutally honest. >> reporter: tameka figured she'd spend the rest of her life raising her kids as mrs. usher raymond. but after the couple split in 2009, the megawatt pop star fought his ex for two years to become one of the rare dads to win primary custody of his kids. why do you think that the judge granted him primary custody? >> i think that in the courts, there's a lot of gender bias. and i think that there's also a lot of financial bias. >> reporter: so you think that he won the custody fight because he's rich and because he's usher? >> i think that played a huge role. >> reporter: but was it usher's fame and fortune, or something more serious? also at play, a sealed psychiatric evaluation that tameka says indicated she had narcissistic personality traits. how did things get so ugly? >> because he filed for full custody. he filed to take my children

away. >> reporter: under the current court order, tameka gets about ten days a month with the kids but not the final say when it comes to basic parenting decisions. and tameka says, therein lies the rub. >> we're talking about 4 and 5-year-old chirp. i would like to be in the loop and know exactly what school they're attending. i had to see on instagram that my 4-year-old lost his first tooth. >> reporter: the problem is compounded, she says, by the busy lifestyle in which usher raises the kids. while he's out working and being a star, she says, the children are being raised by a rotating staff of hired help. >> i'm very concerned about the different caregivers and the different maids and the different nannies and the different family members and the -- you know, my kids are around a lot of different people in their father's care. >> reporter: the last straw says tameka, was a terrifying incident just last week. >> who is doing cpr on him? >> yes, they're doing cpr on him now.

>> reporter: little usher nearly drowned in the family pool, after getting his arm caught in the drain. an unthinkable scene set against the backdrop of a $3 million home in atlanta's posh suburb of bu buckhead. >> yeah, he called. his dad called and said, "hey, there's been an accident. he cut his arm." >> reporter: only this was more than a cut. the 5-year-old was reportedly under water for almost three minutes until he was pulled out. >> i was mad. i was mad, because i was like, "how did this happen?" i just was angry that it happened on his watch. >> reporter: well, actually someone else's watch -- an aunt. usher was reportedly at a recording session a mile away at the time of the incident, which is why tameka says she filed for an emergency court hearing, asking a judge to turn their son over to her care when he left the hospital. >> i feel like the kids are not getting proper care. and i think the reason for a is, he's not there. >> reporter: usher did not respond to our request for comment, but he famously defended his parenting in an interview last year for "oprah's next chapter." >> i'm not an absentee father at all.

i have to temper my schedule based off what i know i have to you know, deal with, and manage my children's schedule. >> who's helping you raise them? >> the village that is my mother, that is my grandmother, my aunt rena. and -- >> so you don't have a nanny? >> i do have a nanny, as well. >> reporter: and he said it was tameka who upped the ante, bringing the custody battle to the boiling point. >> she made us enemies in a way that i could never understand. >> reporter: some see tameka's latest play to get custody as another shot across the bow. >> i think that tameka raymond was exploiting the pool incident to try to regain custody. and i think that had the roles been reversed that he would have exploited the pool incident. >> reporter: former litigator and host of the web series, "crime time," allison hope weiner, says celebrity custody disputes are in a class of their own. >> it's divorce on steroids. so it's what everybody's horrible divorce is but then everything is magnified. >> reporter: before her crusade against the paparazzi,

halle berry waged war over her daughter. her battle didn't just get nasty, it got physical. >> halle berry's fiance and her ex come to bloody blows. >> what will the fight mean in the superstar's ugly custody case? >> they had a big his fight between her current husband and her ex-boyfriend while her child is standing there. >> reporter: the brawl sent both men to the hospital and landed berry's ex, gabriel aubry, in jail for initiating the fight, though the charges were later dropped. and usher's not the only high profile man to win custody of his kids. there's miami heat superstar, dwyane wade. he's been sparring with ex, siohvaughn funches-wade over their two sons for years. >> it is one of the most contentious we've seen in chicago in recent years. >> it's been one of the most difficult things that i've ever been through. >> reporter: she even camped out on a street corner in protest of their custody arrangement.

>> normally those of us in the private sector who have a divorce, we get to have our shameful behavior kept private. >> reporter: the type of shameful behavior tameka readily admits to in the wake of her divorce. you were accused of threatening him, of hitting him, spitting at his girlfriend. >> definitely. >> reporter: all true? >> all true. all true. >> reporter: should they be relevant in connection to the custody thing? >> i don't think they should be relevant. i mean, we're talking separate things. we're not talking about how well i make breakfast or how well i teach my children or what kind of love and affection i give to my boys. >> reporter: love and affection that tameka and usher hope will shield their boys from the pain that accompanies any custody battle. >> is the child of a celebrity going to experience the same sort of pain as a private citizen's child? absolutely. it's all a complete nightmare. next -- why read the tabs

when you can read the tweets? celebrity kids at the keyboard, revealing family secrets that would surprise even their parents. >> michael is turning over in his grave as his daughter's tweet i tweeting, i promise you. [ male announcer ] america's favorite endless shrimp is back! people wait for this promotion all year long. and now there are endless ways to love it... from crispy to spicy to savory. [ man ] you cannot make a bad choice. [ male announcer ] red lobster's endless shrimp! as much as you like, any way you like! you can have your shrimp. and you can eat it, too. [ male announcer ] try our new soy wasabi grilled shrimp or classic garlic shrimp scampi. all just $15.99 for a limited time. it's gonna be a hit this year. [ male announcer ] red lobster's endless shrimp is now! we would never miss endless shrimp. [ male announcer ] but it won't last forever. so come and sea food differently.

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"20/20's" famous parents, famous problems, continues with chris connelly. >> if you could be somebody in a story book, who would you be? >> i'd be papa bear, because i could eat honey, and goldilocks would be sleeping in my bed. >> reporter: back in the day, on "art linkletter's house party," television viewers were told that, "kids say the dardnest things." >> what do movie stars do? >> have a movie star breakfast, go in a movie star car, then go to bed with another movie star. >> reporter: but 50 years later, the things some celebrities' kids are saying on twitter, or showing on instagram, could make any one go -- "damn!" from paris jackson and miley

cyrus. to willow smith. what gets your audience excited about the words of these celebrity kids on twitter? >> i think it's definitely when there's something dysfunctional going on. celebrity parents are definitely freaked out by their children having control, having a voice, being able to be on a soapbox. >> reporter: they provide what certainly can appear to be a stunningly candid look into the private lives and attitudes of a personal till personal tills in the public eye. when a child of a famous person tweets, it feels like we're seeing something that no pr, no spinmeister, nobody can stop. it feels real. >> for people in my business, that's the beauty and the hell of social media. >> reporter: just yesterday saw the late michael jackson's ex-wife, debbie rowe, sobbing on the witness stand. shocked and saddened as she recalled the june 5th suicide

attempt of paris jackson, her now 15-year-old biokid. >> rushed to the hospital yesterday. >> reporter: but already clued into her hmercurial state of mid where her followers on twitter, where paris regularly posted surprisingly frank updates. quoting the beatles -- "yesterday all my trouble seemed so far away, now it look as if they're here to stay" and -- "i wonder why tears are so salty." on the family infighting that was set off by michael's will, which excluded his siblings, fighting that threatened katherine jackson's guardi guardianship. "hello dear family member, i don't appreciate it you telling everyone things that aren't true, thank you very much." and displaying her ever-transforming look, from her hair, to her clothes. yet for those familiar with this family, such self-revelation is a stunner. >> i knew michael. and he was one of the most private people i ever knew. and when he walked from his trailer to the set, there were ten-foot curtains set up. michael is turning over in his grave as his daughter's tweeting, i promise you.

>> reporter: and on instagram, celebrities' kids post photos of their revealing outfits, and their luxe lifestyle. showing that these sky-high earning families aren't exactly of the people, by the people, or for the people. >> when you get someone like kylie an kendall jenner, they come across as sort of obnoxious. it's a glimpse into their lifestyle for sure, but it's a glimpse into a very specific part of their lifestyle. >> reporter: away from the bright lights, as rumors swelled about the health of will smith and jada pinkett's marriage, their tween daughter willow, known for singing "whip my hair," whipped up some speculation with these morose musings -- "this day has been horrific #wishlifewaseasy." "sometimes life sucks." it's a sentiment patrick schwarzenegger could probably agree with. when news broke that his father's relationship with a household worker had produced a child, he took his mother's surname on twitter and offered a

glimpse into his state of mind, by quoting these lyrics from a hip-hop act fort minor, a linkin park spin-off. ♪ some days i feel like [ bleep ] ♪ ♪ some dames you want to quit ♪ and just be normal for a bit >> tweeting these kind of posts, these are the new catharsis for these kids. this is how they vent and say things. and i think any psychologist would tell you, this is healthy for a kid to express their feelings. rrl what's in it for them? >> you'd be surprised at how early an age these kids understand the power. >> reporter: power that may have been wielded in the twitterverse by miley cyrus. while her parents were pondering a divorce, she seems to have aimed this tweet at father billy ray cyrus. "i'm giving you an hour to tell the trust," she declared, "or i'll tell it for you." >> then posted a photograph of him and another woman and basically threatened him online. you can see a weird tension in their relationship and her asking him to respond to her with the power of social media.

>> reporter: she'd delete the tweet and perhaps contend that she'd been hacked. what evs. her parents have reconciled since, suggesting all isn't always unwell when kids of the famous take to social media and start making heirwaves. ♪ it's a party in the usa is she the meanest mom in hollywood? new developments tonight, in the over the top feud between shirley maclean and her daughter. >> did she choosing with a movie star over you? >> she absolutely did. >> how would you like to have joan crawford for a mother?

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tonight, a brand new twist in the mother-daughter drama that's been playing out all year between shirley maclaine and her daughter. this evening, shirley maclaine's surprising response to her daughter's claims that her

mother was hardly a mother at all. here's my "20/20" co-anchor elizabeth vargas tonight. >> no more hangers! >> reporter: "mommie dearest" is the classic movie about what it was like growing up as the daughter of a hollywood star. joan crawford as the caricature of the mother no one would want. >> yes, mommie dearest. >> reporter: now the spotlight is on another hollywood icon's parenting skills. shirley maclaine. her lookalike daughter, sachi parker, writes about her childho childhood, "lucky me: my life with and without my mom shirley maclaine." >> shirley maclaine is bigger than life. she is a force to be reckoned with. and she's big in everything she does. she's big in eating an ice cream sundae. >> from war and peace, down to -- >> reporter: now starring in the global sensation "downton abbey," maclean, at one time, was a triple threat.

who sang, danced and acted and went on to win an oscar. >> i deserve this. thank you. >> reporter: -- for her portrayal as a mother who has a love/hate relationship with her daughter in "terms of endearment." >> why should i be happy about being a grandmother? >> reporter: but maclean's real life daughter says that despite the glamour, her childhood wasn't a fantasy, but more of a nightmare. your mother was absent -- most of your life. >> yes, she was. she was very absent. i was very lonely. very lonely. and i still struggle with abandonment issues and loneliness. >> reporter: she was always happy to see you for about four hours and then suddenly you became an intolerable burden. >> ah. mom. >> reporter: four hours? [ laughs ] that was the time limit? >> pretty much. yeah. >> reporter: as a young child, sachi was sent to japan to live with her father, shirley's husband, businessman steve parker. you didn't go by yourself when you were 2? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: you were on an

airplane by yourself when you were 2 years old -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- to japan? >> it was a propellered airplane in those days where it took a couple of days. >> reporter: well, who took care of you? >> the stewardesses on the flight. >> reporter: maclaine remained in los angeles making movies. she spoke to barbara walters in 1990 about how her career came first. >> i was not about to give up my work. no, i saw my mother suppress her own creativity. i wasn't going to let that happen to me. >> reporter: sachi says she looked forward to the little time she did spend with her mother. holidays and a few weeks during the summer. >> i missed her all year. >> reporter: but she lived primarily with her father, who she says was verbally abusive. you said, "he had a special nickname for me, the idiot. he obviously had little respect for my intellect and he would never let me read. i don't know why." that's pretty harsh. >> it is harsh.

that is harsh, to be called an idiot. definite source of pain for me still. >> reporter: maclaine and parker had an open marriage and saw each other just two or three times a year. >> when we married each other, we recognized neither of us wanted a conventional marriage. we did not want to be tied down. >> reporter: and neither of them were. sachi says while her father lived a lavish lifestyle, she was often left home alone. yuki banks is a childhood friend. >> sachi would call me because she was all alone. and i said, "where's your dad?" "i don't know where he is. i'm home alone." >> reporter: the pattern of neglect would continue when, as a young teen, parker was at a boarding school in europe. and one christmas, she says, neither of her parents showed up when the school closed to take her home. where were your parents? where was your mother? >> i don't know. i laugh now, but i have to say, at the time, it was very scary.

i was literally stranded. and i did not know how i was going to make it through the night. >> reporter: how old were you? >> i was 14. >> reporter: by yourself. >> yes. >> reporter: no idea where your parents are? >> no idea -- >> reporter: and it's christmas. >> that's right. >> reporter: seeing her distress, some kind strangers took sachi in for two weeks. did you say anything to your mom when you finally spoke to her? like, "mom --" >> i did not. because i was really brainwashed by the japanese culture, but really by my father, never to inconvenience people. >> reporter: or cause trouble of any kind. once, maclaine was upset, sachi says, when she and her friend yuki couldn't find their airplane tickets. >> and she had already decided that yuki and i had cashed them in for money. so, she put us in separate rooms and interrogated both of us.

i remember just the feeling of being starving, being locked in the hotel room and just having the tap water. >> i was really scared. i thought, oh, my gosh, i am so glad that this person is not my mother. >> reporter: sachi says she recognizes her mother in this clip. >> i came from nothing and made something out of my life. i think you should just get over your adolescence, it is time to move on. >> reporter: unable to afford college, sachi worked as a maid, a waitress and for four years as a flight attendant. still wishing for a connection to her mother. >> i would look up and the inflight movie would be "the turning point." she's right there and i would just yearn for her and yet it was a movie. >> reporter: sachi wanted to be in movies herself, but she said

her mother did little to help. she appeared in "back to the future." >> who is that guy? >> reporter: and "star trek: the next generation." >> he's missing three on the one side. >> reporter: but her career never really took off. in 1986, she and her mother made a diet pepsi commercial. >> oh, mom, i really wanted that job. >> listen, when one door closes, another one opens. i always learn from my failures than my success. >> that's kind of her. i don't know. >> reporter: in the mid-'80s, shirley maclaine took an otherworldly detour from acting and became a best-selling author of new age books proclaiming her belief in reincarnation and ufos. it was during that period that sachi says maclaine told her that steve parker was not her father, but actually a clone of her real father -- paul -- who was orbiting in space. that story is so crazy. it's -- it's crazy. >> yeah. >> reporter: i mean, who believes a story like that?

>> she does. and did. >> reporter: i mean, most people would say, somebody believing that has a screw loose, to be honest. >> i choose to believe that she was way-eide-eyed and so full o wonder. >> reporter: sachi says she tried to make her mother see that parker wasn't a clone, but rather a conman. when maclaine discovered the truth, she divorced parker after 28 years of marriage. so, tell me why you decided to write this book. it's not a very favorable portrait of shirley maclaine. >> i hope that she will see the positive in it. >> reporter: sachi is a divorced mother with two teenage children who, she says, know their grandmother mostly through old photos. sachi still wishes for that happy hollywood ending with her own mother. >> i find myself wanting to protect her so badly.

because i so love her. and yet the pain is very deep. i don't -- i would hope that she would own it and apologize. >> reporter: think that'll ever happen? >> i hope so. >> reporter: tonight, shirley maclaine reaching out to "20/20" with an extraordinary statement. "my daughter has e-mailed me that she deeply regrets having written the fictional book about our life together. chef said she did it for the money." and just hours ago, sachi told us she regrets hurting her mother, saying the story is true. i do not we are get writing the

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it is coming down in a few hours. the party atmosphere

surrounding tomorrow's implosion. >> and the gunfi